What We Do for Love
by Regency
Summary: Jack has to do something he doesn't want to do. Daniel gets to hear all about it. Sam/Jack UST, Daniel/Jack friendship


Author: Regency

Title: What We Do For Love

Spoilers: None

Rating: G

Pairing: Sam/Jack UST

Summary: Jack doesn't want to do it, for Carter or anyone, but he's gonna do it. He's still gonna complain to Daniel about it though.

Author's Notes: Written to cheer up fairyisasgoodasdead on Tumblr. Also, feel free to hit me with the constructive criticism. I'm way out of practice, but I'd always love to improve.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters recognizable as being from _Stargate SG-1_. They are the property of their actors, producers, writers, and studios, not me. No copyright infringement was intended and no money was made in the writing or distribution of this story. It was good, clean fun.

~!~

Jack dropped his head on top of the scrolls SG-7 had brought back from P4X-593 and muttered, "Shit."

Daniel's eyebrows twitched in interest, but he was a little more concerned about the scrolls. He hadn't gotten to spend a lot of time looking at them, but they seemed to have some intriguing things to say about the meaning of life. Specifically on the area being rubbed away by Jack's nose. _Shit, indeed._

"Jack," he started, a little wheedling, "that's a 140 year-old text you're defiling. Could you _not_?"

Jack lifted his head just enough to shoot him a nasty one-eyed look. Then, like the child he was, he dropped his head and blew. He blew his damp, no doubt jello-flavored breath all over brittle texts that were over a century old. Daniel steepled his fingers together and prayed for calm. The artifacts were as good as destroyed with Jack in the vicinity, so the only thing he could do was get Jack out of the vicinity—_quickly_.

"You seemed frustrated, Jack. Something wrong?"

"Oh, the usual."

Daniel hummed in understanding, feigning a measure of interest. He was interested, really. Anything that got under Jack's collar tended to irritate all of them before long, but right at this moment, he was more concerned with protecting the integrity of his office.

"The usual…? Bureaucracy? Paperwork? Goa'uld? Marines?" The list could go on ad nauseam. Jack had made it amazingly far in the military for someone so easily annoyed.

"Carter," he growled and didn't seem inclined to explain further.

Jack's growls could hide a multitude of emotions. Frustration was easy, but where Sam and Jack were concerned, nothing was ever that simple. _Okay, frustration. He doesn't _sound_ happy, but Jack never sounds happy. Conflicted maybe? Let's go with that._

"What did Sam do?"

"The same thing Carter always does."

Daniel blinked. "Such as?"

Jack finally sighed and sat back up. Daniel decided to forego mentioning the smudged ink on his nose. He should probably take a picture of that, actually. He might be able to use the transfer to decipher what had been on the parchment prior to Jack's facial intervention. Failing that, it would make pretty good blackmail material later on. He grinned.

Jack frowned and looked suspicious. So, basically, he looked like his normal self.

"I'm not even gonna ask what that look's about, Daniel."

Eyebrows rising, he innocently asked, "What look?"

"You're as predictable as Carter. You find—or _make_—trouble, Carter works. She could find work during a vacation. No, she _did_ find work during a vacation. She found it for both us. Hammond's making me go with her, 'to scope out potential consultants,' he said." He slouched, crossed his arms, and sulked.

"So…Sam's—what?" It wasn't often he couldn't follow Jack O'Neill's uniquely, well, unique line of reasoning, but he wasn't certain there'd been an entire thought there. _How unusual_, he smirked to himself. Jack ignored it entirely.

"She wants to go to some science symposium thing, conference, whatever."

Figuring that Sam usually had her reasons, Daniel couldn't fault her for that. But since _he_ didn't have to go, he didn't particularly care either.

"Okay. I'm assuming you're upset because you had other plans."

"Damn right, I had other plans. I was gonna go up to the cabin. Fish a little." He shrugged. "You know, relax."

"That is what people usually do with downtime, yes."

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly around Daniel's office.

Daniel could glare, too. "Some people like their work enough to do it during downtime."

"Uh-huh."

"Shut up, Jack." He rolled his eyes and started rummaging around for his camera.

"I thought you wanted to know why I was upset."

"I did until you started mocking my way of life. Now, I just kind of want you to go away."

Jack went back to sulking. Daniel started fiddling with his camera, trying to decide between flash and the outdoor setting. _Daytime setting or nighttime? I suppose it is kind of dark in here._ Daniel knew he had a reputation as a hermit, but he took umbrage at the idea that his office resembled a dank, damp cave where bears lived. _It's perfectly appropriate for the storage of ancient artifacts. They just don't understand the dictates my work._

"Daniel, stop over-thinking it. Take the damn picture."

Daniel looked up to see Jack looking unbelievably bored, like an unbelievably bored Rudolph the Coal-Nosed Reindeer to be precise. He was waiting to have his picture taken. Daniel frowned; it wasn't nearly as much fun when Jack saw it coming. His turn to sulk. He dropped the camera.

"Nevermind."

"Whatever. It's all Carter's fault."

"It's all Sam's fault you have a job? That is about the size of it, yeah."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"You're just pissed because you have to spend a few days surrounded by people saying words you don't understand."

Jack scowled at him for a long moment, and then it began to recede bit by bit to be replaced by the same resigned unhappiness he always tended to display around scientists. "Well, yeah." He went back to scowling. "And you have absolutely no idea what that's like, do you?"

Daniel scoffed. "Jack, this is a scientific establishment. I work in ancient languages and civilizations. When I hit hard math or science, I hand things off to Sam. I may be able to hold my own in general, but chances are I'd be miserable at one of her symposiums." Then, he sat back to think. "But…"

Jack perked up. "But?"

"But I'd go anyway, even if I knew I wouldn't understand a word."

"Why?"

"The same reason you'll go." He grinned gleefully as Jack shifted in discomfort.

"Why's that then?"

"Because she's Sam and she'd do the same for you." That wasn't the reason, not solely anyway, and they both knew it. However, they also knew that the walls had ears. Any of them might have done it for Sam, but Jack had his own, more forbidden reasons for being under her spell.

Jack sucked his bottom lip thoughtfully. "Guess I should pack then."

"Probably."

With a very manly sigh, Jack stood up and went to the door…where he paused and brooded and sighed some more. Daniel stared at his back, not so secretly amused. He snapped a quick shot of what he planned to label as 'Sulky Jack' on the SGC mainframe.

"Planning to leave anytime soon?"

"Hold your horses, Danny-boy. Just…let me put on my excited face, okay. It's gonna take a second."

In the end, Jack left Daniel's lab looking more constipated than ecstatic, but the effort was still sweet, in a Jack kind of way.

_ He's gonna be a pain in the ass all week. Poor Sam._ Nevertheless, Daniel couldn't help thinking that he might actually be able to get some work done without Jack around to distract him with his tales of woe. Maybe he could finally make heads or tails of these scrolls, around the Jack-shaped smudge in the middle.

He was so getting Jack back for that later. That is, after Sam got done wringing his neck.

It was gonna be great.


End file.
